KARACHI - In an historic, but, unannounced development, the
Peoples Republic of China sharply reduced a marked imbalance
between the Indian and Pakistan Air Force by sending five ships --
in a space of only 10 days late last month -- loaded with cargo
ranging from cartons of unassembled brand new combat aircraft and
a variety of air force-related weapons and equipment to the port in
Karachi, senior Pakistani officials confirmed.

Separately the Chinese government made a speedy delivery of
spares and related equipment for Pakistan's strategic assets through
Korakram highway, a little before the snow created major obstacles
on this crucial communication line between Pakistan and China
before Christmas. Pakistan's extensive missile defence system has
been raised with an active support of the Chinese government.

The senior officials said that in an unprecedented gesture of
friendship to Pakistan, the Chinese government had sent the ships
sailing for Karachi before President General Pervez Musharraf met
Chinese President Jiang Zemin for a crucial dialogue that coincided
with the peak of border tension between Pakistan and India on
December 21.

On more than one occasion during President Pervez Musharraf's
visit to China in December, the Chinese leadership reiterated that
China's friendship with Pakistan "was deeper than the oceans and
higher than the mountains." This timely assistance from China that
instantly enhanced the combat capability of Pakistan Air Force
(PAF) by "several squadrons of brand new Super-7 and F-7 fighter
aircraft" also narrowed a dangerous 1:2 ratio of air force planes
between India and Pakistan.

Before the Chinese assistance reached Pakistan last week, the
Indian Air Force had 730 aircraft as compared to PAF's 340.
Because of the military security reasons, Pakistani officials are
withholding the exact number of fighter aircraft added to the PAF
with Chinese assistance in the last few weeks.

For the last several years, the Aviation Industry of China and the
Aviation Integrated Company of Pakistan had been working on a
joint plan to build a light-weight multipurpose fighter aircraft. The
project was completed late last year with production ready in time
for shipment to Pakistan.

Pakistani military officials consider the proposed S-7 fighter aircraft
as a variant of China's F-7 fighter plane family, but with an
increased manoeuvrability, an engine with increased thrust,
advanced avionics equipment and modern cockpit configuration.
These officials said the S-7 has night combat capability. The
integrated close range combat effectiveness of the S-7 is 90 per
cent higher than that of the original F-7 family.

Before the arrival of PAF cargo from China late last month, the air
force had arrangements ready to shift the unassembled aircraft from
the Karachi port to various PAF facilities where Pakistani and
Chinese officials worked together to assemble and deploy them in a
record time.

The Pakistani officials noted that since coming to power, President
General Pervez Musharraf has developed extremely close personal
ties with Chinese President Jiag Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji.
Because of the Indian ban on Pakistan to use its air space, the
officials said, Premier Rongji had personally desired that President
Musharraf should take the trip after an overnight stopover in Beijing
on board a Chinese government aircraft as Chinese pilots were
better trained to fly in that difficult airspace and weather. Before
leaving for the SAARC summit, President Musharraf had taken a
special meeting on the PAF preparedness in the wake of the
Chinese assistance.

According to the Pakistani officials, after the recent induction, the
PAF has developed increased capacity in the event of war to
interdict Indian naval and cargo vessels in the Indian ocean,
besides devoting more resources to strike Indian military targets in
its key cities and cantonments.